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November2014

Limiting the house’s advantage at craps can be a difficult task, but not an impossible one. There are ways to bet intelligently on this game of chance. The first step is to eliminate the notion that fancy center bets will get you success.

Let us take a refresher course in basic maths. 1+2=3, while 2+1 also equals 3. Even if you split the numbers into 1s, the answer will still be 3. We all know this because we learned it in elementary school. However, craps players get confused by fancy words and try stupid bets thinking 3 will magically become 4.

One example of those stupid bets is hedge bets. While it is true that making two contrasting bets can limit the damage, but it can often prove more expensive in the long run. Lots of betters will combine their pass line bet with an “any craps” bet. Does this combination guarantee you will never lose money? No it does not.

If you make a $20 line bet with a $5 any craps bet, you can win in 12 different ways but lose in 24 other ways. In contrast, a simple line bet has 8 winning methods and only 4 losing ones. Players won an average of $80 on come out rolls with just the pass line bet. In contrast, players won an average of only $20 with the combination bet.

Some players like to hedge their bets with a “any seven” bet after the come out roll is completed. When you look at it statistically, that combination has 11 winning ways but also 25 losing ones. In contrast, the pass line bet after a come out roll wins in 5 ways and loses in 6. Players lose an average of $60 with the combination bet and an average of $20 with the pass line bet alone.

* Both of these statistical analyses were done by completing 36 come out rolls and 36 rolls respectively.